By ALLAN KREDA The Associated Press
NEW YORK — When a team is struggling, the losses seem to arrive in every possible way.
Simon Holmstrom scored a tiebreaking, short-handed goal with 1:33 left in regulation and the New York Islanders beat the Ducks, 4-3, on Wednesday night, handing the injury-plagued visitors their 12th loss in the past 13 games.
Mathew Barzal, Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas also scored, and Noah Dobson had two assists to help the Islanders improve to 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves.
Troy Terry, Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick scored for the Ducks, and John Gibson finished with 30 saves.
“We slept-walked through the first period and kind of got traction as the game went on. I thought we played a solid third period,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We just fumbled the power play at the end. There’s not much to say.”
Holmstrom skated down the left wing and whipped the puck past Gibson for his eighth goal of the season and the Islanders’ fourth win in a row. Jean-Gabriel Pageau assisted on the winning goal, Holmstrom’s league-leading fourth short-handed goal this season.
“It was awesome,” the 22-year-old Swede said of his heroics, the latest go-ahead short-handed goal in regulation time in Islanders history. “I tried to get some speed and just shot it.”
The Islanders are 9-1-4 in their last 14 games and trail the first-place New York Rangers by just four points in the Metropolitan Division.
Carrick scored at 5:07 of the third for the Ducks’ third straight goal after New York took a 2-0 lead in the second period. It was Carrick’s sixth of the season.
Barzal tied the score at 3-3 on a one-timer off a pass from Bo Horvat at 7:46. It was his 10th goal of the season and gave him a team-leading 30 points. With the assist, Horvat extended his points streak to eight games.
“The guys did a good job of battling their way through and finding a way to win,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “Special teams made a difference for us tonight in the third period. … Our mindset and mentality hasn’t wavered one bit.”
Holmstrom got the tiebreaking goal with just under 1½ minutes to go, scoring just 12 seconds after defenseman Robert Bortuzzo was sent to the penalty box for tripping.
“We kept going and stayed with our game,” added Holmstrom, who is in his second season with the Islanders after they picked him in the first round (23rd overall) in the 2019 draft.
Palmieri scored 40 seconds into the second period to get the Islanders on the scoreboard first with his ninth. The Islanders are 8-1-0 this season when Palmieri scores.
Cizikas made it 2-0 at 6:32, finishing a give-and-go with Cal Clutterbuck. It was his fifth.
Terry scored his sixth at 7:47 to get the Ducks on the scoreboard and Henrique notched his sixth with 6:31 remaining in the middle period to tie the score 2-2.
Former Islander Ross Johnston received a warm ovation during a video tribute midway through the first period. Johnston played parts of seven seasons with the Islanders before the Ducks claimed the left wing off waivers in October.
“I have a lot of great memories here, a lot of close teammates,” Johnston said. “It’s special to be back. The tribute was a nice touch by the Islanders. I’m forever grateful for my time here.”
The Ducks play at the New York Rangers on Friday at 4 p.m. PT.
